All for the Union: The Civil War Diary & Letters of Elisha Hunt Rhodes

I was a good friend of Jimmy Rhodes, a direct descendant of this Civil War hero from Rhode Island, in grade school. I am proud to note the author hailed from my native state of "Little Rhody." This particular primary source from the Civil War was utilized by Ken Burns' in his Civil War series with great success. Rhodes was a participant in many if the major battles ranging from Bull Run all the way through Appomattox. And like many others he quickly rose from the rank of lowly private to a Colonel by the time the War was over, and he was a proud member of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) veterans organization for many years following the war's conclusion. His writing voice is clear and descriptive. He is an unabashed patriot for the Union cause, as the title of this work suggests. He is unquestionably brave, and writes movingly about the horrors of combat, bringing the conflict to life in a brutal, vivid way. Rhodes, to repeat, is a hero, just as much as the glory-seeking Joshua Chamberlain from the 20th Maine, who after his exploits on Little Round Top at Gettysburg spent the remainder of his life touting his singular leadership and bravery (this is not to knock or question Chamberlain's bravery, he was wounded four or five times during the war, it's just that Chamberlain spent so much time bragging about himself once the war ended). Rhodes, on the other hand, is not nearly as obnoxious. The focus of Rhodes' writing is not on himself, but on the conflict around him, the men, the misery, the futility of war. And love of country reasonates throughout the read. Highly recommended read.

If you are a well-studied Civil War buff, this is the book for you. If you are just starting out on the pursuit of learning the history of the great American Civil War -- the reason(s) it was fought, the places it occurred, the people it involved, the changes it provoked, and the attitudes that prevail to this day because of it -- this is NOT the book for you. Start with the great histories first -- read authors like Sears, McPherson, Groom, Fleming, Kearns-Goodwin, Foote, Shaara, et al. Learn about the war as a whole history before exploring it in detail. Having said that, here's my brief review: This is a good read, worth the money to buy it, and the time to read it. Though not a memoir, it serves as one in the sense that it follows Rhodes' experiences from the beginning of the conflict to its end -- and that he seemed to be everywhere important things happened, and important battles were fought, and important decisions were made, and historical events occurred. He recorded these events in both his personal diary and in the letters he wrote to his family and friends. This volume is a collection of these writings.

If you've seen Ken Burns' documentary THE CIVIL WAR (and shame on you if you haven't -- it's excellent), you already know quite a bit about Elisha Hunt Rhodes. His diary was used throughout the series as an example of what life was like for the ordinary Union soldier, and no wonder: Rhodes served from the formation of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1861 until the war's end in 1865, and along the way participated in or witnessed most of the major battles fought by the Army of the Potomac. "Ordinary," however, does not really describe Rhodes, a New Englander whose unflappable demeanor belied a passionate devotion to the Union cause. Indeed, the book is well-named, because Rhodes' favorite catchphrase is, "Oh well, it is all for the Union." When he suffers indignity at the hands of a superior, when he endures torrential rainstorms and marches through the mud, when he experiences the terror and confusion of battle, his answer is always the same: "Oh well, it is all for the Union." And it was this attitude, I suppose, which allowed him such a meteoric rise within the army; entering as a private soldier, he mustered out at the rank of colonel, which is a pretty incredible journey even by the standards of the time, when high-ranking officers in their 20s was hardly uncommon.ALL FOR THE UNION is obviously an important work, because Rhodes was right in the thick of the action for the entire war, and his experiences and reflections on things like training, military life, combat, hardship and sacrifice are interesting and of great historical value. He was determined to master the art of soldiering and clearly did so, including the necessity of playing politics with superiors. I was particularly interested by his take on the misery and suffering and grief experienced by Southerners as the war consumed more and more of their land and people: it is a mixture of compassion with a sort of "you brought this on yourselves" mental shrug. He expresses occasional admiration for the Confederacy, or rather the Confederates, for their stubborness and courage, but he seems to regard the entire rebellion as a kind of inexplicable temper tantrum that has to be crushed by any means necessary: restoration of the Union is a goal which justifies anything. All of his insights are interesting and provide a insight into the mentality of the men who fought for the blue.The debit side of the book is that Rhodes' writing style is a bit flat. He seems like a very self-contained, even-tempered man who has the typical Yankee virtues of stubborn toughness, unflappability and single-midedness, and his reactions to things like the debacle of Fredericksburg are somewhat confusing. Reading his memoirs of that battle, you'd never know the Union had been beaten. This is understandable to the extent that he was not actively engaged in the fight there, and probably didn't feel the slightest bit bested, but it makes me wonder if he was always being completely emotionally honest when he wrote in his diary. Not saying he wasn't; just wondering if he was. Indeed, the entire diary has a feeling of restraint, of control; it lacks the subersive humor that made its opposite number, Sam Watkins' COMPANY AITCH, a much more fun read (on the other hand, it is more coherent and accurate as to dates and places). I guess the best way to frame the book would be to say that the parts are better than the whole: there are many great anecdotes, but as an overall read I give it no better than a B-minus.

This is the best war diary I have read, and for many reasons. Elisha Rhodes has an excellent, straightforward writing style with very good grammatical structure. This makes the diary easy to follow. He was involved in virtually the entire war fought by the Army of the Potomac, and so it is pretty much a complete history in that sense.At the same time, this private who ultimately became a colonel (in his early 20s!) remains about as unaffected as a man could be. Nothing good or bad really changes his simple and honest view of the war's ultimate justice, and many times he refers to the sacrifices as being easily justified by the gain of saving the union and of freeing the slaves.He is religious but not judgmental, and never does he develop any real hatred of the enemy. He does his duty with a minimum of fuss. He enjoys his army life, but is quite happy to return to civilian life at the end.Maybe most interesting to me was his innocent myopia. He never really knew the "big picture" of how the overall war was being fought, or even what the importance of many of the battles he was involved in might have been. He was content to leave that to the generals, and especially to Grant, in whom he had a great deal of trust.This is a great weekend read for any civil war buff.

At this time it fills me with joy to know there are men that are true to both their God and their country.This first I heard of Elisha Hunt Rhodes was in the PBS documentary The Civil War. I am glad I found him because whilst his diary does not contain the detail of the academic works (how could it ?) it provides the human side in a way that no other has. For this alone it is worth readingHis Grandson's addendum as it tells of his journeys with his Granpa adds to the diary as it shows how Elisha was remembered by those he had met during what was one of the bloodiest wars every.

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This is the nitty-gritty, front line, understated, almost daily account of the life of an exceptional soldier in the US civil war. Terrific stuff for all civil war buffs.

Very compelling. A rare insight into what it was like for the ordinary soldier in the civil war. No matter how many times I will read this book in the future, it will be impossible to comprehend what it was really like for those on the battlefield. Only those that were there will know the true horrors they suffered and endured